As November comes to a close, the Transaction Rundown's year-in-review reaches it's halfway mark with a look back at the year's moves in High-A Carolina. Every Friday between today and December 21st we will look back at the roster movement over the past season for one club in the Cleveland Indians organization.

The Cleveland Indians have announced their organizational staff alignment within the Player Development System for the upcoming season. Several coaches, managers, coordinators, and special assistants have changes roles for the 2013 season, and we recap them all after the jump.

Tony recently had a chance to sit down with High-A Carolina pitching coach Scott Erickson to discuss his first season coaching and some of the pitchers he worked with this past season, namely Danny Salazar, Grant Sides, Jordan Cooper, Will Roberts, Mike Rayl, Michael Goodnight, and others. This is the first "Coach's Corner" of the offseason, and a new interview with an Indians' coach will post here at the IPI every Tuesday through the end of the year.

Today we wrap up the 2012 Tony Awards with the announcement of the All-Tony teams for 2012. These are the first, second, and third teams as I see them in the Cleveland Indians organization based on their performance this past year. Again, this is not a top prospect listing by position, but a listing based 100% on performance from the 2012 season.

Today we continue the IPI’s year-end awards with the announcement of the Offensive Player of the Year. This award goes to the position player in the Indians organization that had the best year offensively and like with all the awards so far is 100% based on performance and not on prospect standing. This is the final “Tony Award” to be handed out, but this weekend the "All-Tony" team will be posted as Tony lists the best players this season position-by-position in a “1st team” and “2nd team” format.

Today we continue the IPI’s year-end awards with the announcement of the Pitcher of the Year. This award goes to the starting pitcher in the Indians organization that had the best year from a performance perspective, not necessarily from a prospect standing. Later this week the Offensive Player of the Year and All-Tony Team will be announced.

Today we continue the IPI’s year-end awards with the announcement of the Comeback Player of the Year. This award goes to the player who came back from a rough 2011 season – be it due to injury or performance – and any other obstacles to put up a very good 2012 season and reestablished and/or solidified himself as a prospect for the Indians. In the coming days the Pitcher of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year and All-Tony Team will be announced.

Today we continue the IPI postseason awards with the announcement of the Relief Pitcher of the Year. The starting pitchers often get most of the focus, so this award gives an opportunity to showcase and recognize some of the top relief pitching performances over the course of the 2012 season. In the coming days the Comeback Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year and All-Tony Team will be announced.

Today we continue the IPI postseason awards with the announcement of the Biggest Breakthrough. This award goes to the player who may not have been as highly touted coming into the season on prospect lists, but by the end of the season is definitely on the prospect map going into next season. In the coming days the Reliever of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year and All-Tony Team will be announced.

Today we continue the IPI postseason awards with the announcement of the Biggest Disappointment, the one year end award no one wants to win. This award goes to the player who was a highly rated prospect coming into the season who performed poorly or suffered through an injury plagued season. In the coming days the Biggest Breakthrough, Reliever of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year and All-Tony Team will be announced.

Today we continue with the IPI’s year-end awards with the announcement of the Defensive Player of the Year, an award given to the Indians minor leaguer who had the best season defensively. Prospect standing is not considered with these awards as they are 100% awarded based on performance. In the coming days the Biggest Disappointment, Biggest Breakthrough, Reliever of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year and All-Tony Team will be announced.

Today we kick off the IPI’s year-end awards with the announcement of the Rookie of the Year, an award given to the Indians minor leaguer who had the best professional stateside debut this year. Prospect standing is not considered with these awards as they are 100% awarded based on performance. In the coming days the Defensive Player of the Year, Biggest Disappointment, Biggest Breakthrough, Reliever of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year and All-Tony Team will be announced.

The minor league 2012 season officially ended for the Indians over the weekend with Double-A Akron winning a league title, but the beat goes on with Instructional League already in session and other fall and winter leagues set to start in the next few weeks. Today, Tony checks in with another Minor Happenings piece and takes a deep look into first baseman Chun Chen's future with the Indians and also provides tons of comments from the Indians front office on the likes of guys named Salazar, Guilmet, Urshela, Radeke, and more. Also, be on the lookout for the first Instructional League game recap later today or first thing tomorrow.

The season is over for the Carolina Mudcats, but boy what a season it was. Five County Stadium was an exciting new ballpark in play for the Tribe's system, and it didn't disappoint. We looked at the top 12 performers this week, and wrap things up today with the pitcher, hitter and players of the year. Of course, it wouldn't be me if I didn't look ahead. Bringing the boat in, 'cuz muddin' season is over...

Tony is back with another edition of "The Radar Report" that has lots of gun readings on several Indians' prospects in the system. This is a premium site feature which posts about once a month and provides the fastball and secondary velocities of players in the Indians' organization that he sees. This week's report includes information on several arms from short season Single-A Mahoning Valley all the way up to Double-A Akron like Jake Sisco, Danny Salazar, Fabio Martinez and more.

Jim Pete takes a look at the top six players in Carolina in 2012, as he gets ready to shut the doors on another Carolina League season. Who will get the top spot? Will it be a power hitting first baseman? Will it be one of the flashy infielders? Will it be a toolsy outfielder? Might a starting pitcher steal the spotlight? Find out who had the best season for the Muddies, after the jump...

In today’s Minor Happenings, Tony takes a look at the positive strides that Alex Lavisky has made this season and how he has legitimized himself as a catching prospect. In addition to that he discusses and breaks down how right-handed pitcher Cole Cook is back on the prospect radar, how first baseman Jesus Aguilar has solidified his prospect status this season, and provides tons of comments from Ross Atkins on the Lake County team.

Jim Pete posted his High-A Carolina notebook earlier today with some stuff on the top prospects there, and Tony goes a step or two deeper in the second piece of his six-part series recapping all six of the Indians' stateside affiliates. In Tony's review of the Carolina Mudcats, he sat down with the Indians front office this week and discussed their season, the strides made by several of the players in the field and on the mound, and how encouraged they are about some of the showings in Carolina.

This week, Jim Pete takes a different approach as to what he looks at for his year-ending piece. Sure, he could do a year-in-review, but who really cares about wins and losses in minor league baseball? What people care about are the prospects...so here's part one in a countdown of the top 12 Carolina Mudcats.

The minor league season may be over, but there is no end in sight for Minor Happenings or the minor league coverage here on the IPI. In this week’s Minor Happenings, Tony takes a look at the emergence of Low-A Lake County second baseman Jose Ramirez and what kind of prospect he really is, the strong finish from Lake County catcher Jake Lowery, and the good year but unfortunate injury to short season Single-A Mahoning Valley lefty Geoff Davenport. As always, he has lots of quotes on players like Matt Langwell, Carlos Moncrief, Matt Packer and others provided by the front office, and lots more.

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!